Package-carrier.



No. 891,710. PATENTED JUNE 23, 1908.

J. 1). LANE.

PACKAGE CARRIER. APPLICATION FILED P3118, 1907. RENEWED 001'. 9, 19o7.

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UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

JOHN D.- LANE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

PACKAGE-CARRIER.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 23, 1908.

Application filed February 18 1907, Serial No. 357,807. Renewed October 9, 1907. Serial No. 396,666.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, JOHN D. LANE, of

4 Boston, in the county ofSufiolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Package-Carriers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a handle or carrier, comprising a grip portion and wire hooks extending downwardly from the ends of the grip portion to engage the confining cord or string of a parcel to be carried in the hand.

The invention has for its object to provide a neat and desirable parcel carrier adapted to be made cheaply from sheet metal and wire, and provided with a-covering which conceals all the rough edges of the sheet metal portion, and protects the hand of the user against injury from said rough edges.

The invention consists in the improved construction which I will now proceed to describe and claim! Of the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification,-Figure 1 represents a top plan view of a package carrier embodying my invention. Fig. 2 represents a longitudinal section of the same, on line 22 of Fig. 1, the wire member being shown in elevation. Fig. 3 represents a section on line 3-3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 represents a section on line 44 of Fig. 2.

The same letters of reference indicate the same parts in all the figures.

In the drawings, 12 represents a sheet metal hand grip, which is U-shaped in cross section, and is preferably longitudinally curved, as shown in Fig. 2 The grip 12 may be struck up by means of suitable dies. The end portions of the grip are provided with loops 13 which are formed by cutting transverse slits in the material of the grip,

,and pressing outwardly the portions of the material between said slits to form the loops, the latter projecting outwardly from the concave or upper side of the grip.

14 represents a wire member which conforms to the longitudinal curvature of the upper side of the grip, and is passed through the loops 13, the end portions of the wire member being bent across the ends of the grip, and formed as hooks 15 adapted to engage portions of a confining cord or string on a bundle.

The sheet metal grip as formed by dies in accordance with the usual practice, has

edges which are more or less rough and liable to injure the hand which grasps the grip. These rough edges include the longitudinal margins of the blank and one of the sides of each of the transverse slits which form the ends of the loops 13, these sides of the slits being on the under or convex side of the grip. To prevent injury to the hand which carries the grip by the said rough edges, I provide a flexible covering which may be of paper or cloth, and is formed and applied so as to extend across and cover all the edges of the grip which would otherwise come in contact with the hand. The portion 16 of the covering which is applied to the concave upper side of the grip, is located under the wire member 14, excepting those portions 17 which are applied to the loops 13, these portions being the outer sides of the loops and therefore above the wire member. The portion 18 of the cover which is applied to the convex under side of the grip, extends across the spaces or openings formed between the transverse slits by the outward bending or displacement of the metal which forms the loops 13. The portions 19 19 of the covering that connect the portions 16 and 18, extend across the longitudinal edges of the grip. It will be seen therefore that all the rough edges of the grip are covered so that they cannot injure the hand of the user of the device.

In ractice the portion 16 of the covering is app ied before the loops 13 are formed,the portion 18 being kept separated from the un der surface of the grip during the formation of the loops 13. After the loops have been formed the portion 18 is brought to place on the under side of the grip, and is caused to cover the s aces formed by the displacement of the meta in formin the loops, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4. It wil be seen that the wire member 14 bearing upon the upper portion 16 of the cover, holds the latter in place, and prevents liability of its being accidentally removed from the concave side of the grip.

The string-engaging hooks 15 are the bent end portions of arms 22 formed by bending the wire member 14. The said hooks are preferably of the form shown in Fig. 2, each hook having a string-receiving throat or mouth 23, which is located under and guarded by the body portion of the arm 22 of which the hook is formed,-the arm overhanging the throat or mouth of the hook. The object of this formation of the hook is to prevent the hooks on one carrier from engaging or becoming entangled with the hooks of other carriers when a large number of the carriers are loosely assembled in a bag or box. The carriers are usually shipped in large quantities, each shipment com )rising a large mass of the carriers loosely held in a bag or box. I find that when the hooks are not guarded in the manner shown, there is con siderable liability of adjacent hooks becoming entangled so that when they are removed from the mass, there is more or less difficulty in separating them. By guarding the throats of the hooks, as shown in Fig. 2, this difliculty is obviated.

I claim:

1. A package carrier comprising a grip of sheet material U-shaped in cross section, a wire member extending lengthwise of the grip, the latter having means for engaging said member, and a flexible covering strip applied to the grip, and protecting the hand against injury from the rough edges of the grip, the portion of the strip applied to the concave side of the grip being located under the wire member and confined thereby.

2. A package carrier, comprising a grip of sheet material U-shaped in cross section, and

being bent across the ends of the grip, and

provided with hooks, and a flexible covering strip applied to the grip and to the upper sides of the loops, and protecting the hand against injury from the rough longitudinal edges of the grip, the portion of the strip applied to the concave side of the grip being located under the wire member, and confined thereby, while the portion of the. strip applied to the convex side covers all parts of said side and the spaces formed between the slits by the displacement of the intermediate metal, the said portion of the covering strip protecting the hand against injury from the rough edges of said slits.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature, in presence of two witnesses.

JOHN D. LANE. Witnesses:

P. WV. PEZZETTI, E. BATOHELDER. 

